What do you see in your local housing market this weekend? Flippers? "Alan Barberino wanted a fast sale on a house he was selling, but it wasn't flipping fast enough. Barberino had set the price at 11 Hillside St. in Meriden at $189,000 and got no takers. After a series of reductions, Barberino finally dropped to $159,900, and had several offers in a couple of days. The house sold for $157,000."

"'I had set it too high. I should have set it at $179,000, but I wanted to see what I could get,' Barberino said."

"Last fall, houses were staying on the market longer but the prices weren't dropping. That has changed. For every 10 houses, there are only a few qualified buyers. Fairfield County has seen a significant decrease in sales and prices."

"'The big problem is that lots of people bought homes that shouldn't have, or bought and are living beyond their means,' said Paul E. Gradwell, of Keller Williams Realty in Cheshire. 'But most of the scallywags have been shaken out.'"

New lifestyle arrangements? "Ongoing projects relating to 'new urbanism' in Austin have resulted in that city being selected as the host for the 16th annual Congress for New Urbanism scheduled next month. Waco will be paying attention as well."

"This wave of new urbanism spans oceanfront sites from Galveston to South Padre Island. The total amount of expenditures projected is upwards of $3 billion over the short term. Many of these communities are expected to attract those from out-of-state as well as individuals and families currently residing in Texas."

Failed auctions? "India's developers will begin to lower prices after commercial capital Mumbai failed to attract bids at a land auction for the first time in 13 years, signaling a dip in property demand, Credit Suisse said."

"Mumbai's metropolitan authority received no bids for the sale of two of five plots at Bandra-Kurla Complex, and sold another site to the sole bidder."

"'A slowdown in real estate prices has been talked about for some time, and now appears eminent,' analysts Anand Agarwal and Musaed Noorani said today in a note to clients. 'It seems like only a matter of time before developers begin to cut prices.'"

Or slow sales. "No subdivision is immune to the current housing crunch, even when the land the house sits on is free. Marquette hasn't seen a huge dip in the market, said Dale Anderson, with Action Reality in McPherson. 'They move,' Anderson said. 'It just takes patience. And reality. Sometimes the price is too high. Sometimes they have to be a little realistic.'"

"Dusty and Bonnie Rhodes' home, one of those for sale in the neighborhood, has been on the market since April 2006. A retired couple, they are moving because they are upset with the taxes."

"While the Rhodeses thought that taking advantage of the free land was a good opportunity, they learned 'free land turned out not to be free,' Bonnie Rhodes complained. Only six people have been shown the house."

"Carla Koehn, with Lindsborg Realty, believes central Kansas isn't facing the same crisis as the East and West Coast's housing market. 'We're all waiting in central Kansas to see how it plays out. Hopefully we'll pull through without that effect,' she said."